22 DFómh 2014, 16:45
The Committee of Public Accounts will tomorrow consider the 2012 financial accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, with officials from the Board, the HSE and the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform.
22 October 2014
The Board is responsible for overseeing the building of the new single children's hospital, one of the biggest public investments ever undertaken in Ireland.
Appearing before the Committee tomorrow will be:
National Paediatric Hospital Development Board
- Mr Tom Costello, Chairman
- Mr John Pollock, Project Director
- Mr Jim Farragher, Finance Officer
Health Service Executive
- Mr Liam Woods, National Director of Health Business Service
Department of Health
- Ms Tracey Conroy, Assistant Secretary
- Ms Fionnuala Duffy, Principal Officer
A representative from Department of Public Expenditure & Reform will also be in attendance.
Committee Chairman John McGuinness TD says: “Tomorrow's meeting will see the PAC examine the 2012 accounts of the Board tasked with the building of a single world-class children's hospital for Ireland. With planning permission refused for the original site at the Mater hospital, the Government decided in late 2012 that it should be co-located with St James Hospital. About €40 million was spent on the Mater site and Committee Members will wish to ascertain how much of this will now be written off due to the fact that the Mater site failed to obtain planning permission.
\"Committee Members will wish to examine the most up-to-date budgeted cost of the hospital on the new site. We will explore whether the funds are secured to build the hospital on the new site the extent to which philanthropic donations will be required in order to finish the project. The PAC will also raise a number of issues in relation to the St James site, including an assessment of risks associated with the planning process, whether there's room on the site for a proposed new maternity hospital and, with Ireland's growing population, whether the scope exists to expand the facility itself.
\"The Committee will also seek reassurances around Board continuity as three different boards were in place from December 2012 to July 2013. The PAC will want to assess the experience and expertise of the current that the Board have in delivering a project of this size and complexity.\"
The meeting takes place tomorrow 23 October in Committee Room 1, LH 2000 at 10 am. Public proceedings can be viewed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
Ends
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Áine Collins, Fine Gael
Paul J. Connaughton, Fine Gael
Joe Costello, Labour Party
John Deasy, Fine Gael
Robert Dowds, Labour Party
Seán Fleming, Fianna Fáil
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin
John McGuinness, Fianna Fáil (Chairman)
Eoghan Murphy, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour Party
Kieran O’Donnell, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
Shane Ross, Independent